'There is prejudice against the poor'

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Economy Minister Axel Kicillof addressed the effects of the recently announced 40% increase in child welfare benefits (AUH) in the country’s economy and stressed the existence of “prejudice against the poor” among the programme's critics.

“[AUH] is not only an immediate help to those who don’t have a legal work or an increase for those who do, it also has a more general effect,” Kicillof explained.

“Sometimes we lose sight of the importance of this [decisions] because of an ideologised debate by the right who thinks that the state’s social welfare means spending,” Kicillof said. “They have a prejudiced perspective against a certain sector” he added in an interview with Provincia Radio.

The Kirchnerite official praised the government’s decision to raise welfare benefits, saying it will have beneficial effects in the economy.

“When money is pumped into these low-income sectors, an important part of income goes for consumption, and consumption creates income for businessmen, which creates jobs”, the Minister explained. “What seemed to be focused aid, being a universal program, ends up working as a spring that sets the whole economy in motion,” he added.